Eagles outdistance Tomcats in second half

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – After a 56-yard, eight-play touchdown drive tied the game 7-7 in favor of Thiel at the start of the second half, Juniata scored four unanswered touchdowns en route to a 41-20 victory at Knox Stadium on Saturday. Josh Wannamaker (Derry, Pa./Derry) rushed for a touchdown and 40 yards on 11 carries for the Tomcats while Ryan Radke (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster Central) threw for two touchdowns and 151 yards on 8-of-14 passing.

Juniata (1-0) opened the game's scoring as Eagles running back Michael John ran up the middle 21 yards for the score with 1:56 left in the first quarter.

The Tomcats returned the favor with 13:07 left in the second quarter as Wannamaker, a freshman, found daylight and scampered into the end zone to tie the game 7-7. It was the first rushing touchdown of Wannamaker's young collegiate career.

With just 50 seconds left in the second quarter the Eagles lined up for what would have been a 27-yard field goal. The snap from center was off, and the Eagles holder, which happened to be starting quarterback Ward Udinski, calmly scooped up the ball, rolled left and found Ethan Cree alone in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown. After the Juniata extra point attempt was no good, the score at the end of the half stood 13-7 in favor of Juniata.

The Eagles found the end zone on each of their next four drives to start the second half, outscoring the Tomcats 28-13 in the second half to earn the win.

In the fourth quarter, sophomore quarterback Ryan Radke (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster Central) entered the game for starter Andrew Smith (Williamsfield, Ohio/Pymatuning Valley). Radke made the most of his opportunity, engineering scoring drives on the Tomcats' final two series to close out the contest.

Radke found senior Matt Fedzen (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) with a pass for a 58-yard touchdown, and later threw an 18-yard strike to Ron Howard (Sharon, Pa./Sharon)for the third Tomcat touchdown of the afternoon.

Senior linebacker R.J. Malson recorded nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss to lead the Tomcat defense.

The Tomcats will play their 2013 home opener on Sept. 14, when they take on the University of Rochester. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.